My Protector
by KNDnumbuh007
Summary: based of Sundae, Muddy, Sundae. Since Mike has been trapped, Mal has been occurring some of Mike's lingering feelings for Zoey. It's until this new challenge that Mal has trouble keeping these thoughts out of his head. He can't possibly care for this girl, it wasn't in his nature... right? No flame if yah hate, give it a try. Mal x Zoey ONESHOT


**So this is my very first TDI fanfiction and I couldn't help but pair Zoey x Mal. Don't hate, I couldn't resist a bad boy c; give it a try and let me know what you think! Enjoy c:**

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When Zoey woke up in the McClain Spa and Hotel feeling refreshed as the birds tweeted at the window. She sat up and turned to them with a smile. "Good morning!"

The bird tweeted in response and then flew away. Zoey yawned and stretched in her bed thinking about how she probably won't be feeling this amount of comfort when she goes back to the loser cabin. But she kept an optimistic thought and prepared herself to win the next challenge so she wouldn't have to go back, despite being with all her friends in the cabin. She slowly stood up and decided to walk to Mike's room to greet him good morning, wanting to be a good girlfriend and hoping to make him smile.

"Miiiike," Zoey hummed as she softly knocked on his door. "Are you up yet?" she waited a minute for a response but when she did not get one, she slowly opened the door and peeked in. There was Mike, in his bed, stomach down, sheets askew, and his arm and leg draped over the bed. Zoey smiled some more as she took looked at the messy figure in front of her.

"Mike," Zoey said softly as she slowly rubbed his back.

But Mike was not Mike, for he was Mal. Irritated that someone would dare disturb him while he was sleeping, responded in his deep voice. "What?"

Taken aback by the attitude, she retracted her hand and asked. "Mike?"

Mal was now fully awake, his eyes shot open realizing who was here with him and coughed to hid his low voice with Mike's. He quickly sat up, and saw the rouge haired girl giving him a quizzical look. "Oh, morning, Zoey! I didn't realize it was you."

Her look softened a bit as then it turned into a smile. "Good morning! I just wanted to get you up before they put away the breakfast!"

"Thanks, Zoey," Mal said as he put on a fake smile. "I'll meet you downstairs."

"That's okay, I wanted to walk with you downstairs." Zoey said as then she decided to grab Mal's hands and tug him ever so slightly enough to make him rise an inch. "Let's go, Mike, before they put away the breakfast!"

Mal did a small enough eye roll that Zoey wouldn't notice, and reluctantly stood up and let Zoey hold his hand as she guided him towards downstairs. He would just have to look for his incriminating footage that Alejandro hid after.

Mal hated the way this girl guided him, like some lost puppy. He hated the way she smiled at him for doing the stupidest stuff like when he complimented her, the way he held her hand, all that stuff that Mike would do. There was also the fact that she would never leave him alone, how did Mike come to love this girl? This annoying pest of a girl was nothing but an obstacle.

When they made it downstairs, the big assortment of food met their eyes and they quickly sat down and put their desired foods on their plates. After Zoey put her food on her plate, she turned towards Mal. "What do you think the next challenge will be?"

"Probably something dumb and strenuous as usual…" Mal said in his Mike voice as he buttered his toast. After realizing what he said he covered it up with. "I mean, I don't know, Zoey. I hope it's not too hard."

Zoey gave him an odd look and went back to her food. Mal mentally slapped himself, he has to be careful around Zoey- she's starting to get suspicious. Not a second later, Chris showed up shirtless in his boxers and said enthusiastically. "Good morning, winners! Are you two ready for the big challenge?"

"Sure am!" Mal said with fake enthusiasm.

"Eat up," Chris said as he grabbed a stack of pancakes. "You two are going to need a lot of energy for this challenge." He then decided to give a laugh as he thought about the challenge coming up.

"I'm going to get ready," Mal said as he stood up and pushed his plate away. "I'll see you later." He said to Zoey.

"But you barely ate," Zoey said concerned that he only had a piece of taste and juice for breakfast. "Chris did say this was a big challenge. There's lots of French toast and crepes!"

"It's okay, Zoey," Mal waved her off. "I just need to do a few things before the challenge."

"Oh… okay." Zoey said disappointed about the lack of time she spent with Mike. Mal saw that she was disappointed and knew he had to do something Mike related, and how he hated doing Mike related things.

Mal reached down and tipped her chin up towards him to look at her doe like eyes and said. "I just want to make sure we'll be ready for the challenge." Then leaned close to her and lightly kissed her lips.

When he pulled back, she seemed in a slight daze until Chris whined. "Hey, I'm trying to eat here."

Mal then proceeded back to his room as Zoey went back to her food. Before she took a bite, she asked Chris. "Does Mike seem different to you?"

Not wanting to give away juicy information that could possibly ruin his ratings, he just shrugged. "Beats me, all I know is that the kid's great for ratings." It wasn't a total lie, therefore, he didn't feel bad.

Zoey just sighed as she continued with her food. There was something up with Mike, he was acting weirder and weirder every hour and the fact that she couldn't figure out what her boyfriend was up to bothered her a little. She decided she wasn't hungry anymore as she decided to get ready as well. She left Chris complaining to his staff. "Where is the blueberry sauce? I see raspberry and all other kinds, but where is the blueberry?! How am I supposed eat these pancakes?!"

Zoey went to her room and changed out of her pajamas into her usual clothes, adjusting her strapless belly shirt and modifying her ample cleavage. It was then she heard a crash against the wall. She jumped at the source of the noise and then jumped again when she heard it once more.

"What was that?" Zoey gasped as she heard loud shuffling in Mike's room. Curiosity overtook her as she decided to head toward mikes room. When she entered, a plant soared through the air and smashed against the wall. She looked troubled as the pot was in pieces on the ground.

"Mike," Zoey asked tentatively as she looked around the room and noticed it was in shambles. "What happened?"

Mal went in immediate Mike mood and stood up. "Oh, hey Zoey!" Mal looked around the room nervously as he saw the condition he created in the room. He cursed himself as his anger got the best of him and forget that he should be careful. "I was just helping to water the plants and I… dropped one… against the wall… so…" Mal gave a fake laugh knowing it was probably the most farfetched lie he's ever made and panicked as a complete air head would have to believe him.

Of course Zoey didn't necessarily believe him but she couldn't just blame her boyfriend. She gave him the benefit of the doubt and nodded. "Alright."

Mal was dumb struck and almost laughed. This girl actually believed him? How stupid of her! Surely, he would have to tip toe around her, but he could play with her trust just a bit longer.

"Let's go and see Gwen, she might be back from Boney Island." Zoey said as she suddenly brightened her mood and grabbed Mikes hand again. Mal raised his eyebrow at her and her sudden happiness. This girl was all rainbows and butterflies, huh?

Not saying a thing, he decided he no longer wanted to be dragged along, so he walked with her hand in hand. He felt embarrassed, Mal wasn't hand holding, and he certain wasn't the kissing type- even if it was for deceiving purposes. He liked when people cowered and begged for mercy, even obeyed his command by bowing at his feet, but as he thought about it... Zoey was willing to do whatever he said from the beginning. He shook his head from these thoughts of Zoey as he realized she was now talking to Gwen on possible people to vote off.

"Scott is Courtney's boyfriend though." Gwen defended.

"But whenever I see them, he's more into her than she is to him." Zoey rebuffed. "I mean, I hate to do it, but do you really think she'd mind?"

"We should talk to her." Gwen said.

"What do you think, Mike?" Zoey said as she valued her boyfriend's opinion the most. Mal noticed their hands were still intertwined and quickly let go.

"We should vote him off," Mal said."He could possibly get Courtney to vote one of us off."

"But Courtney wouldn't do that." Zoey said.

"But wherever Courtney goes," he then pointed to Gwen. "She goes."

Gwen looked a little angry as she defended herself. "That's not true!"

"And how can we trust you?" Mal said.

Zoey seemed a little taken aback at the dirty play Mike was doing. It wasn't like him. Gwen scrunched her face. "I won't join Courtney. I promise. I'll be part of this alliance."

Mal acted like he didn't believe her, but he knew full well she wasn't about to vote any of them off. He just needed another vote to get Courtney or Scott off the island. It was then Mal decided to make a confessional, he turned to Zoey and said. "I'll be right back." And gave her a smile that almost made him through up.

She gave him a small one back and watched until his retreating form get smaller and smaller as he disappeared near the confessional. Zoey turned to Gwen and asked. "Does Mike seem really weird lately? I thought Mike was back in control but lately he's been weird as weird gets."

"You mean weirder than usual?" Gwen teased a little but saw that Zoey wasn't up for that sort of thing so she gave an honest answer. "He has been a little off…"

"I wish I could see inside his head," Zoey sighed until she laughed. "But not literally, that'd be gross." Gwen gave a smirk at the red head who seemed to be enjoying her joke more than she should.

As Mal approached the confessional, Courtney just walked out, smiling at something that she must've said. Mal rolled his eyes at the stuck up and walked in, when he sat down, something seemed to have fallen on the floor next to him. When he picked it up to look at it, he smiled mischievously and hummed to himself. "Perfect."

When Mal was done with his confessional, he walked out and almost ran into Zoey. "Watch where-" then he caught himself before he could finish his sentence. "Ahem, I mean, sorry Zoey, didn't see you there."

When he stood up, he offered his hand for her and she gladly took it. She dusted herself off and said. "It's okay, I should've known you'd been in here."

"_Of course she should've, that dolt of a girl." _ He thought to himself as she just stood there staring at him. He almost snapped at her for staring at him but he kept his cool. "Is there something up?"

"Yeah… I mean- no! Yes?" Zoey questioned whether or not to tell him. Mal raised an eyebrow at her indecisiveness and waited for her to finish. "I mean, yes. That whole thing with Mal was taken care of… right?" she asked hesitantly.

Mal stiffened, he looked at her closely and saw nervousness and hope in her eyes. He nodded. "Of course, Mal is never getting out again."

Zoey perked up and kissed Mal on the cheek before going in the confessional. Mal smiled until the worn down door closed. He rubbed his cheek hard, like some dirt was stuck to his face and walked off with a frown.

"Listen up, campers!" Chris's voice came on the speakers that were hung on the pole. "Today's challenge is gonna be a butt kicker!"

When Mal showed up between the two cabins, where Gwen fell off the back of Chef's truck and everyone else showed up shortly. Suddenly, warmth was in Mal's hand as he looked to see that Zoey interlaced their hands together. "Ready?"

"Yeah." Mal said with fake enthusiasm.

They walked together hand in hand as Scott walked near them, Courtney and Gwen seemed to be talking about something else. While they were walking, Mal didn't seem as bothered of Zoey's hand in his anymore. Normally, he would try to get to wherever they would go quickly so they can let go sooner or make some excuse. But now, it seemed as though Zoey now had a fit in his hand. The mere thought gave Mal chills down his spine as the possible thought of Zoey rubbing off on him wasn't so ludicrous anymore.

"Hope you two gots lots of sleep last night," Scoot gloated as he flexed his muscles. "Cause I'm feeling as strong as an ox."

"Don't you mean, strong as a rat?" Mal asked knowing full well where this conversation was headed.

"Huh?" Scott faltered in his flexing.

"Ohhh," Mal said in fake realization. "You haven't seen Courtney's chart!"

Scott looked stupefied, and perfect timing too. Courtney and Gwen ran up to the conversation and just getting the final bit. Courtney gasped as she knew what was unveiling before her eyes- her very own chart.

"What chart?" Scott asked.

"This one." Mal said with a smile on his face as he pulled it out for everyone to see.

Everyone gasped at the chart that was before their eyes, thinking, how could their best friend/boyfriend betray them like this? "Great plan by the way, not how would want it to go down but still!" Mal said.

"You had me for last?" Gwen exclaimed. "Right to the end my butt." She then decided to stomp off away from her supposed best friend.

"I can explain!" Courtney said as she panicked at everyone stomping away.

"You gave me a tail?" Scott asked in anger, seeing as being drawn as a rat seemed more important. "Wow."

"Wait!" Courtney begged as she was being left behind.

"Oh, please," Gwen called back. "Even you can't talk your way out of this one."

Mal was completely satisfied with himself, what a way to divide up everyone. No one trusts the other anymore except for Zoey and leaving her blind faith in him, and that was just enough. They finally arrived and Chris explained the challenge with a sundae and of course getting the ingredients in a dangerous way. Mal then laughed at Chris's crude joke, Zoey looked sorry for the interns and was even shocked to hear Mike laugh. There was something Zoey had to ask him.

The horn rang, and everyone seemed reluctant at first to go. But he yelled at them and rang it once more. Everyone ran off alone except for Mal and Zoey, they ran together. It was this time, Zoey decided to ask him her question. "Mike, I have to know. Why did you expose Courtney in front of everyone like that? It was just so… you know… mean!"

Mal looked at her for a second, thinking of what to say. He couldn't believe this girl was still defending someone like Courtney, someone who already knew who to kick out of the game with Zoey in the drawing. But yet, here she was, still defending her. Mal had to live up to his name, he had to be bad, or else he wasn't Mal. There was a way though that Zoey could see the good in everyone though... maybe even him. He cleared away those thoughts as he remembered- whatever good deed he's done, he did it to be like Mike.

"I did it for us," Mal defended. "For you really, without Cam, we're outnumbered. Courtney, Gwen, and Scott, they're too powerful together. We have to break them up."

Zoey was glad that Mike was thinking about her and was protecting her, even though he did it in sort of a mean way. Did she completely approve? No. But he was thinking about them, and that's all that mattered.

"You gotta admit," Mal continued. "She kinda had it coming." Mal then decided to let out his normal evil laugh and ran a little farther ahead than Zoey, who was now confused at Mike's behavior.

They then climbed up the snowy mountain and when Gwen slid back down, Zoey and Courtney fell back a little too. Mal took this opportunity for himself and separate from Zoey. "Whoa, easy does it. I'm going ahead to make sure it's safe."

After getting his ice cream, he slid back down and noticed Zoey and Courtney talking to each other. When he passed them, he yelled. "All clear!"

Zoey and Courtney made it up at last and got their ice cream. Courtney then decided to use this time to gloat in Scott's face. Maybe Mike was just getting into the game- like, Courtney.

Mal, farther ahead, saw the cherries in a bowl and saw Gwen was just about there. He had to think of something to put him ahead of Gwen. He saw a vine, grabbed it, and swung to land near the cherries. Right then, an alligator sprang up, a problem that Mal would just have to get rid of. He let go of the vine and made sure to land on the alligator's head with great force.

"Whoa!" Gwen said as she smiled at him. "Thanks for saving my butt!"

"Oh?" Mal realized he just helped Gwen but he didn't really care, for it wasn't for her after all but more of his personal gain. "Oh yeah, sure, no problem- ohmigosh! Look out another gator!" Mal pretended to see another gator and pointed in the direction. Gwen fell for it perfectly and took the time to use her body as a stepping stone and get ahead.

"Sorry," Mal called out pretending to be apologetic. "False alarm!" and ran off with a maniacal laugh.

Zoey was now in the swamp, but sadly, her foot got stuck. Courtney then rowed on log past her and bragged in her face how she would be the winner. _"Great…" _Zoey thought when things couldn't get worse. Things did take a turn for a worse when a gator started to swim near her. She wished Mike wasn't so far ahead, as she screamed, she hoped Mike would somehow come back for her. The gator sprang up and until she did some smart thinking by throwing dirt into its mouth. It closed its mouth in disgust and swam away.

"Ohhh, foot," Zoey said exasperated and tried to pry her foot out. When she was able to yank it out, she beamed. "Finally free!" Zoey ran to get the cherry for her sundae and ran back, passing a collapsed Scott. She was going to catch up, she just knew it.

Mal ran into the mess hall and Chris said something in the speakers about the new season's Total Drama Robot. "The what?" Mal questioned what idiotic thing Chris made now.

The robot that Alejandro was recovering in, now programmed to smash anything it see's, came at him. Mal dodged its wooden hammer all while grabbing a handful of nuts for his sundae. Gwen then came in, perfect timing too.

"Hey, Gwen!" Mal called out. "Watch out for the robot!"

"The what?" she asked as the robot changed its attention toward her.

Mal whistled his famous tune as he happily strolled out of the mess hall to the next obstacle. Zoey then snuck into the mess hall as the robot was distracted by Courtney running about the cafeteria. She delicately grabbed a few nuts and sprinkled them on her sundae.

Mal came up to a few big rocks, where the plant resided nearby, and hid. He heard Chris exclaim through the speakers. "Mike is the first one to make it to the fire zone!"

"Sweet." Mal said in his normal low voice but then stopped when he heard Chris yet again. "But Gwen is hot on his heels, so it's still anybody's game!"

He saw Gwen run ahead of the rock and approach the flower, all while still complaining about Courtney. Didn't that girl ever stop complaining? When she saw the flower, she took in its size.

"Whoa," Gwen said in awe. "That thing is huge!"

"Yep, toxic waste," Mal said appreciating the mutated flower. "The most terrifying growth hormone money can buy."

The flower took the chance while they were distracted by its size and blew fire at them. Gwen and Mal ducked as the flames blew over their head. Mal took this time to run on the other side, not very smart as the flower now took him as a target.

Mal screamed as he held the sundae over his head to keep out of harm's way, the only thing that was set fire was his shoe. But he wasn't out of the clear yet, it kept on trying to get him and with every jump, he wasted time. He noticed Gwen had already grabbed her chocolate sauce and ran ahead with Chris announcing she was now in the lead.

Mal's anger boiled as he glared at her back running away from him. He was never the distraction but here he was wasting time. He needed to get into that hotel and spa to look for Alejandro's tapes. He went back to the rocks to hide from the flames to think of a plan.

Not soon after, Zoey came up to him and crouched alongside him full of concern. "Mike, are you okay?"

"I will be," Mal assured her. "I just have to fix-" but was interrupted by the flames blasting their way. Knowing full well he couldn't win on his own, he talked to Zoey to use for his gain. "You have to beat Gwen or else we're _both_ on the chopping block. Hurry!"

"Okay," she said with confidence. "But if I win I promise we'll both go to the spa!"

Mal gave her a strange look as the words left her mouth. Here he was, using her for his own gain but yet she didn't notice, or try to. Before she left, she leaned in and kissed his cheek happily. Mal was smiling but the thing was, it wasn't fake. He actually felt a tiny bit of happiness from this pest. She was looking out for the both of them and that was something he never experienced or even seen. He groaned as he couldn't believe this was happening. This annoying disease of a girl was contagious.

Mal came up with a devious plan then as he saw a medium sized rock near him. "Alright," he held it up to his malicious face. "Let's rock."

Mal quickly stuffed the plant with the rock and laughed evilly as it exploded, leaving the chocolate syrup burnt. Good thing he grabbed some while the plant was distracted.

"Hey!" Scott exclaimed in anger. "What are you doing?"

"Oh," Mal acted innocent. "It was an accident, sorry." And then ran off with an evil chuckle once more.

They all ran neck and neck until Courtney sprinted ahead gloating in their faces. "Short cut, eat it!"

Everyone groaned as she passed the white lined and hated it even more when she celebrated. Chris then turned the tables around by now the real winner is the one who finishes their ice cream first. Everyone celebrated but Courtney, she was mortified. Mal took a tally for another silent victory.

"Finished!" Zoey exclaimed with her mouth full of chocolate as she raised the empty bowl over her head. Chris then declared her the winner and with immunity. Mal couldn't be any more relieved when he heard it was Zoey's voice that said she was done. Now he can look for those tapes.

Courtney let out a sigh of relief when she didn't have to finish her sundae that was covered in bird vomit, but Chris, upset by the food she was going to give her interns, made her finish it. Courtney was appalled as she pointed fingers.

"It wasn't my fault!" Courtney pointed an accusing finger in Mal's direction. "Mike was the one who destroyed the chocolate on purpose!" Zoey gave a confused and disappointed look at Mike about his odd behavior and Mal tried to smile it off, but it didn't seem to work.

"What was I supposed to do?" Courtney questioned. "Skip the chocolate sauce?"

"Yes!" Chris exclaimed.

After discussions of who to vote off, they all knew what who everyone was going to vote off. They sat around the fire pit as the votes were tallied. From a 3-2 score, Courtney was voted off. She didn't go easily at first, but she did eventually go down the flush of shame.

"Congrats on making it to the final four and having the spa all to yourself," Chris said with his Hollywood smile. "Because now, winners can't bring anyone in with them."

"Oh, no." Zoey said bummed the fact her boyfriend wasn't going in with her after all, and Mal giving a nasty glare at Chris. "Really? Sorry, Mike."

"No worries," Mal pretended not to be upset but he could feel his anger boil within. How dare that rat of a host trick them? "You deserve it!" despite the fact Mal wanted to go in, Zoey did win. Her frown turned into a grin as he cheered her up. He was acting more Mike than he wanted to, and that had to stop. When Zoey walked away, Mal barred his teeth and growled going back to his own cabin… with farm boy Scott. Mal would just have to find a way to sneak in.

Zoey yawned as she changed into her pink tank top and her purple Soffe shorts and curled into her bed, with the many Chris paintings staring at her, and tried to sleep. She couldn't stay in one spot though, she felt bad that she couldn't keep her promise to Mike to stay. Maybe she could sneak him in or something? What's the worse could Chris do? He couldn't possibly kick them off the island. Now that that thought was stuck in her head, she hesitated walking out of the hotel. What if doing this was putting them in jeopardy? She sighed as she contemplated what to do until she heard a small thud. It was small, but she defiantly heard it. She couldn't sleep anyhow, so she decided to check it out anyways.

She slowly tip-toed down the hallway hoping to not wake up Chris, but judging how she could hear his snoring from here- it wasn't likely. She peered into one of the rooms to see a nice living room with two chairs facing the fireplace that had a large portrait of Chris on top. Zoey carefully examined the portrait and said out loud to herself. "Alejandro did say the truth is in the art…"

Zoey just copied what she saw in the movies and banged the painting to reveal a CD pop out right underneath. Zoey looked at it with curiosity as she grabbed it and found the surveillance room. She played the CD, she gasped for what was revealed before her, and it was Mal and all his doings.

She heard another small thud and wanted to check it out. She quickly took the CD out and slowly made her way towards the front of the building trying to figure out where the noise could possibly come from. She peeked out of the window and saw right before her, Mal peeked in at the same time. She gave a small shriek as Mal gave a gasp at Zoey's sudden appearance. She opened the door and asked Mal. "What the heck are you doing?"

"Zoey! I- I- uhhh…." Mal couldn't think of a legitimate excuse. How can he explain himself in the dead of night sneaking into the hotel?

"The front door is an option." Zoey said pointing to the white door.

"It was locked." Mal snapped as he wasn't expecting someone to even notice he was here.

"Are you looking for something?" Zoey said as she hid the CD behind her and acting coy.

"No," Mal said acting like Mike. "Just wanted to check up on you."

"_Right…" _Zoey thought to herself. She opened the door some more for Mal and let him in. "Come in, it's kind of cold out tonight. I have to talk to you about something."

Mal raised an eyebrow at her at the sudden need to talk to him now, I mean, couldn't it wait for the morning? When she closed her door, she kept the CD close to her body behind her back. She knew who she was up against and had to remain strong.

"I know that you're not Mike," Zoey said as she let out a breath she didn't know she was keeping in. "Mike is in there somewhere and is trying to get out."

She knew, but how. She must've seen the video that Alejandro hid somewhere in the hotel, and she managed to get them first. Mal's hair flipped down and he narrowed his eyes at her. "Where did you find the video?"

"That's not important," Zoey said as she brought the CD from behind her back forward and stared at it for a second before looking up to Mal's nasty gaze. "What are you doing with Mike?"

"Don't worry, Mike is safe in my head… where he belongs." Mal said with a sneer.

"He belongs out here," Zoey said firmly. "You belong in his head- he's the original, not you."

This girl was truly irritating. She wasn't cowering in fear of him at all, not even under his gaze, she was holding his ground. Interesting… normally this would annoy him to no end, someone opposing his power? But Zoey wasn't threatening, she was more standing her ground. He had to give her props for remaining strong, something he hasn't seen in these jelly fish contestants.

"But what if I told you, Mike wasn't the original?" Mal said with a smirk. "He's just another personality running around and gone loose. He belongs in here and it seems he has now realized that he is a mere figment of the imagination."

"But- but Mike-" Zoey stumbled over her words. What if Mal was the original? What then?

"Now realizes that he's a copy and gave up, he's seen his wallet and saw a picture of me and my name." Mal finished for her and can see her slowly crumbling and giving up.

"Okay, so you're the original." Zoey regained her confidence. "But that doesn't mean what you're doing is right, I'm going to show this CD to everyone and you'll be voted off or kicked off the show!"

Mal gritted his teeth, now she was being threatening, opposing him. He could tackle her, beat her up, easily pry that CD out of her hands, but for some reason he decided not to. Maybe it was Mike's thoughts that still roamed in his head, but he couldn't bring himself to physically harm her. He also had to admit she was pretty smart for finding the CD before him, even if she did have the upper hand of staying in the hotel. He threatening approached her closer and she didn't move, not an inch. He would have to talk his way out of this situation.

Merely inches from each other's faces, Zoey could feel his breath as he loomed over her. "But what about before? The times I let you win-"

"For your own gain." Zoey spat.

"The times I protected you-" Mal continued.

"To make yourself look like Mike." Zoey interrupted yet again.

"What about the times I kissed you and held you?" Mal asked a little more sharply.

"To act like Mike, yet again!" Zoey said getting upset.

"Let's think about this," Mal said. "The times when we were away from everyone that I could've fooled them, and it was just us."

"Don't pull that on me, Mal." Zoey said angrily. "You were just trying to gain my trust."

"Do you think I honestly care if I have your trust or not? I can easily take you down and rip that CD out of your hands." Mal said staring straight into her doe eyes, seeing how she looks confused and upset.

"Then why are you doing this?" Zoey asked softly.

Now Mal couldn't control what he was saying, which has never happened before unless Mike was coming free. But he wasn't, he was stuck and safely trapped in his mind. He hated that she made him feel so weak and was able to get him to talk, and all she had to do was stare at him with those brown eyes. "I don't know if it's Mike's thoughts, but for some reason I want to…. Protect you…" Oh man, he hated how he sounded now.

"You actually… care about me?" Zoey asked with her frown slowing going upwards.

"Don't over think it," Mal rolled his eyes. "It's probably just feelings that I have to get rid of."

"Mal," Zoey said now noticing how close they were together. "You treat people horribly and you cheat. What makes you think I could care about you?"

Ouch. What was he going to do now? He was evil, his name even proved so. He wasn't about to change for _her. _"Because I can get you far into the game."

"If you honestly think that could make me care about you then you have no idea what it's like to care for someone." Zoey laughed in a condescending way.

"What do you want me to do?" he asked angrily. "I have these feelings that won't go and I can't just suddenly be Mike. I have never had someone care for me so what am I supposed to do?" he hated how Mal was acting. So full of doubt, curiosity, scared like a little boy afraid of the dark.

Zoey rested her forehead on his and said softly as she grabbed one of his hands. "I just want you to try. If you honestly care for me then you have to cut back on bruising people."

Mal bit his tongue from saying something else. They were both trying to change and the feeling in his chest whenever he was near her seemed to drop to his stomach and turned to butterflies as they started to accumulate. It was different, something he's never tried before. Having someone strong by his side wouldn't be so bad, especially if it was Zoey. He didn't think he would ever like someone like Zoey, let alone feel some sort of romantic attraction to anyone, but here he was. He slowly moved his face a little and pressed his lips against Zoey's and it was probably one of the most exhilarating experiences he had. The way she kissed was soft and gentle, he loved the fact that something so innocent was his.

When she pulled back, her eyes fluttered and felt slightly guilty for kissing Mal. But Mal was Mike and vice versa, so this wasn't a bad thing she was doing. Right? Zoey stepped back and explained about the CD. "I won't show this CD, but I have to see you're at least trying for me."

"Aw," Mal said with a small grin. "You don't trust me."

"Not yet." Zoey said as she grabbed his hand and guided him back to the bedroom. "C'mon, it's getting late."

"Where we going?" Mal asked confused why they just didn't go into separate bedrooms.

"To sleep." Zoey said smiling as they entered the bedroom. Zoey crawled into bed and patted the spot next to her.

"You want me to sleep next to you?" Mal asked surprised. All Zoey did to reply was pat the spot next to her again.

Mal hesitantly scooted next to Zoey in bed but sat up, feeling awkward. Zoey gave a giggle as she laid down and tugged on his arm. "Lie down and relax, you're so stiff."

Mal then slowly laid down in the bed staring straight at the ceiling and not moving a muscle. Zoey turned towards him sideways and wrapped her arms around his waist as she snuggled her red head into his chest. As Mal noticed her eyes slowly close, he relaxed and wrapped an arm around her and brought her closer. Before she fell asleep, Mal asked her. "Why did you ask me to come to bed with you?"

"It's like you said," Zoey said into his chest as her breath tickled him, leaving goose bumps trailing all over his body. "You're protecting me."

* * *

**I know it ended kind of briefly so review and let me know what you think! Was it wrong for Mal to tell Zoey that Mike is a copy for his gain, is Zoey making the right decision, is she technically cheating? I hope I did well, please review!**


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